"It was an extraordinary experience, perhaps more than ever, to have this shared space and a tribe of women and artists talking about this industry, and ultimately therefore talking about sexual harassment in the workplace," Laura told Ellen DeGeneres on her show Thursday, adding, "And a very interesting thing happened this morning."

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The Oscar-nominated actress, who is the daughter of actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, went on to say that following the awards, she had a realisation:

"I woke up and I realised that in that space I talked about how I was one of the lucky ones because I was raised by actors who told me their stories and told me what to look out for, and I realised that I was I still justifying behavior," she said. "And it was my mum who said, 'No, no, no, Laura -- that was sexual assault. That was harassment. That was assault. No, you were 14 then.'"

Up until now, she explained, she hadn't thought of those experiences as assault or harassment.

"You realise how in our culture we have justified, and therefore even condoned behaviour, as though it's the norm," the Emmy winner said.

While the mother-of-two didn't elaborate further on her own abuse, she applauded the brave women who have spoken out.